Taking Their Place in History

by
admin on
19th-July-2016

Sacramento, CA

Five years ago, California lawmakers passed SB48 that added LGBT citizens and people with disabilities to the list of social and ethnic groups whose contributions are to be taught in schools. The legislation also prohibited the use of any classroom materials that reflected negatively on gays or any particular religious group. After a series of fits and starts, California has edged closer to compliance with the first such law in the nation.

Last Thursday, the State Board of Education reviewed a curriculum outline that would introduce the concepts in second grade through discussions about diverse families. In the fourth grade the curriculum would include lessons on California's place in the gay rights movement. In the fifth and eighth grades students would look at gender roles in the 18th and 19th centuries. Finally, in senior government courses students would be taught about recent case law including the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage as well as cases involving bathroom access for transgender students.